About Me

In the beginning I was composer. (I still am, of course.) Then I started arranging. I began mixing out of self-defense, and found myself getting called just to engineer. Occasional producing was a natural step. Somewhere along the way, I discovered I had an affinity for music technology that was useful to other musicians, so I hung out my shingle as a music technology consultant. I wrote some books for Alexander Publications and magazine articles for Keyboard and EQ. I wrote some software manuals and tutorials (Logic Pro) both for software companies and third party publishers. I helped some pretty great musicians figure out their rigs, and taught them how to wring out the best from their MIDI/audio gear and software.

Along the way I’ve arranged about a zillion hours of music for live performance in every imaginable style (much of it with orchestra or big band accompaniment, though I’ve done it all from hip hop to country to screaming rock). Writing that much for live performance means I know how to get it to sound pretty good before it’s really mixed… which means when I compose or arrange for recording, it usually mixes very easily.

I’ve arranged a dozen children’s musicals, in many styles, all involving big band/orchestral/rock/jazz/hip hop/latin/gospel arranging and production. Here, and here.

I’ve published original choral music, technical manuals, and lots of musical arrangements in many styles, both choral and instrumental, with Shawnee Press, Lorentz Publishing, Alexander Publications, Fred Bock Publishing, Rainwater Music, The Benson Company and Word.

Along the way, I’ve been teaching other people how to do this stuff. For some reason, that has never gotten boring. Whether it’s consulting with great jazz musicians and publishing companies, presenting a class in a university, or giving workshops to university faculty in how to use technology to teach music, it’s all about communication in the end… which is a great deal of what music is all about, and what it takes to make music.

I’ve taught music faculty at several colleges and universities how to use technology like Logic Pro to teach music theory and composition, as well as general music technology and recording arts. Apple Computer Co selected me as an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2005. But, of course, they’d never heard me sing.

If you’re lucky, you won’t either.

You can listen to some of my music here. Don’t worry… I don’t sing in any of it.